Test cricket will "die" without regular meetings between Australia, India and England, former Aussie bowler Stuart Clark warned.
Australia face India in five Tests between 22 November and 7 January, with the first match set to begin in Perth later this week.
India will be looking to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after triumphing 2-1 on home soil in the teams' last series in 2022-23.
But Clark, who represented Australia between 2006 and 2009, believes the upcoming series has even greater significance due to the growing popularity of short-form and franchise cricket.
Speaking exclusively to Stats Perform, the former bowler warned the traditional format needs competitive meetings between Australia, India and England to maintain fan interest.
"If you compare to what we've just seen with this one-day series, people are still pretty interested in Australia – or at least in England and India – about Test cricket," he said.
"But there's a bigger story around Test cricket in that the international summer is only important to those three countries, whereas a lot of these other countries around the world, they're actually funded by their T20 tournaments, that's where they make their money.
"Whereas Australia, England, India it's in reverse. I think for the the greater good of the game, Australia, India and England need to really try and promote Test cricket and that's the biggest story to all of this.
"You know the Ashes will always exist because there's such a big rivalry and they want to beat Australia.
"But the bigger problem is what happens if India or Australia become weak and don't want to play one another? Or England become weak and don't want to play India?"
With Australia set to host the next Ashes series in 2025-26, Clark is aware of the need for Pat Cummins' team to test themselves against top-calibre opposition.
"If Test cricket doesn't remain the priority for those countries, then test cricket really dies. That's what no one wants to see, and the players are pretty adamant about that as well," he continued.
"Look at South Africa, look at West Indies. This series out here against India is a really big series, as it should be.
"Hopefully it's competitive and hopefully Australia win, but what we want it to be is competitive to try and grow that game.
"It's such an important series. These next two summers really set the tone for the following two summers, which are usually pretty dour."
Bangladesh tour match ends in rain-affected draw against West Indies Select XI
The touring Bangladesh side and the West Indies Select XI played to a draw in their two-day tour match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground on Monday. Rain disruptions and a dominant display by Bangladesh’s bowlers on the second day ensured the match ended without a result.
Resuming from their overnight score of 5 for 1 in response to Bangladesh's first-innings total of 253-7, the West Indies Select XI struggled to find their footing. The hosts were restricted to 87-9 in just 27.4 overs, with only Kimani Melius (23), Justin Greaves (20), and Daniel Beckford (19) reaching double figures.
Bangladesh's bowlers were relentless, led by Hasan Murad, who delivered a remarkable spell, taking three wickets for just one run. Hasan Mahmud and Taskin Ahmed chipped in with two wickets apiece, ensuring the West Indies XI could not mount a significant challenge.
On Sunday, Bangladesh’s innings was anchored by contributions from Jaker Ali (48), Mahidal Islam (41), and 31 each from Litton Das and Mominul Haque. The visiting team posted a competitive 253-7 despite tight bowling from Jair McAllister and Chaim Holder, both finishing with figures of 2-48.
While the match provided valuable preparation for Bangladesh, the rain-affected nature of the contest limited opportunities for extended play. The touring side will take heart from their bowlers’ performance, while they prepare to face the West Indies senior team.
Australia race to seven-wicket win to whitewash Pakistan
Australia signed off on their T20I series against Pakistan in style after racing to a seven-wicket win with almost nine overs in hand in Monday's third match.
The hosts had already sealed a series success thanks to Spencer Johnson's five-for in Saturday's second match, and any hopes Pakistan had of taking a consolation win were dashed by a dismal performance with the bat in Hobart.
Pakistan were bundled out for just 117 as Aaron Hardie finished with figures of 3-21 and Johnson (2-24) and Adam Zampa (2-11) also dismissed two apiece for Australia.
Babar Azam's knock had put Pakistan in a decent position at 61-1 through six overs, but when Haseebullah Khan handed Matthew Short a simple catch off Zampa's spin ball, the wickets began to tumble with ease.
Pakistan's next five wickets fell for just 31 further runs, with seven of their batters finishing in single figures and four managing one run or fewer, with Babar (41) the only batter to score above 30.
Australia lost Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk early but Marcus Stoinis took any jeopardy out of the chase by scoring an unbeaten 61 runs off 27 balls, with his stand including five fours and five maximums.
Stoinis was unwilling to hang around, smashing Haris Rauf for 22 runs in an over to take Australia to the brink.
He then hit Shaheen Shah Afridi for 19 in the penultimate over as the hosts got the job done with 52 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Quick and easy for Stoinis
Australia could have taken their time after being set such a paltry target, but Stoinis was determined to put on a show for those present at the Bellerive Oval.
Only twice has he bettered his knock of 61 in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*). His strike rate of 225.92, while ruthless, falls some way short of his T20I best of 327.77 versus Sri Lanka in 2022 (59 off 18).
Pakistan's Babar, meanwhile, is now second on the all-time list of T20I run scorers with 4,192 to his name, having overtaken Virat Kohli. Only Rohit Sharma (4,231) is ahead of him.
Buttler delighted England have 'winning habit back' despite fifth-match washout
Jos Buttler is pleased to have England's "winning habit back" after securing a 3-1 T20I series win over West Indies, with the final match abandoned due to rain.
England had opted to bowl and the hosts reached 44-0 through Evin Lewis (29) and Shai Hope (14) after five overs before the downpour began in St Lucia.
Despite ground staff's attempts to clear the surface, the match was abandoned, with England claiming the win, having lost the ODI leg of the tour 2-1.
The tourists had won the first three T20Is, with the West Indies earning a consolation on Saturday in a high-scoring clash. Despite not finishing their final white-ball assignment of 2024, Buttler was delighted with the work his side have done this week.
"We're delighted with the series win. We've played some brilliant cricket," Buttler said.
"I've been happy with how we've started games, setting the tone with the powerplay wickets, as we've seen from Saqib being named player of the series. We've had lots of different guys chipping in at various times, so I'm really pleased for everybody.
"The fast-bowling department is looking good, and they all bring something different with their variety, so it's exciting for English cricket to have that.
"I enjoyed it [being captain without keeping], I felt like I had a bit more time, and it was nice to be out there running around and closer to the bowlers. I got everything I wanted to out of doing that.
"It's great to have the winning habit back."
West Indies struggled to carry over their ODI form into the T20I series but were looking to restore some pride in the final match, having impressed in the fourth. Captain Rovman Powell is now hoping they can find some consistency.
"It's been a tough series and credit Jos Buttler and his team, who came to these conditions and dominated. Having said that, we played good cricket in patches but not in long enough periods," he said.
"I think we always, as a batting group, use a template, but that didn't work in our first few games. As a team, we need to assess faster. It took us two or three games. The bowling group needs to sharpen up in a few areas.
"It's always a problem with the Caribbean cricketers, we always wander off when we are not playing for West Indies. It's a treadmill, and we don't spend time together. We have to keep our communication with players and ensure they are ready to go."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
